LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the eighth straight year, the Plymouth State University women's volleyball team has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award after maintaining a year-long grade-point average of at least 3.30, the organization announced Thursday.
 
Plymouth State has won the award in 11 of the past 12 years and is one of 233 NCAA Division III women's indoor programs to be recognized this year. A total of 1,432 men's and women's teams across all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, NCCAA, two-year colleges and high school levels in both indoor and beach volleyball were honored for their work in the classroom.
 
"It comes as no surprise to see our sport have more than 1,400 teams earn the AVCA Team Academic Award this season," said AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. "We are grateful for the dedication of the coaches and players who make both classroom and on-court success the lifeblood of their programs."
 
PSU was one of four Little East Conference (LEC) schools recognized, along with Southern Maine, UMass Boston and WestConn. The Panthers' streak of eight consecutive AVCA Team Academic Awards is the longest in the conference.
 
Despite being picked fourth in the LEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, head coach Joan Forge guided the Panthers to their first conference tournament championship since 2004 last fall. Plymouth State dethroned two-time defending champion UMass Dartmouth in the title match before dropping a first-round NCAA Tournament match to No. 12 Ithaca. The Panthers finished the season with a 23-8 record, surpassing the 20-win mark for the sixth consecutive year.